Compensation
Salaries for game programmers vary from company to company and country to country. In general, however, pay for game programming is generally about the same for comparable jobs in the business sector. This is despite the fact that game programming is some of the most difficult of any type and usually requires longer hours than mainstream programming. However, most game programmers feel it is worth the sacrifice for the fun and casual working environments. Results of a 2007 survey indicate that the average salary for a game programmer is USD$83,383 annually. The least experienced programmers (with less than 3 years experience) generally earn about $57,665, while developers with over six years experience on average earn $94,525.[2]
Generally, lead programmers are the most well compensated, though some 3D graphics programmers may challenge or surpass their salaries. According to the same survey above, lead programmers on average earn $103,409 annually.[2]
A controversial subject in the game industry recently has been the issue of unpaid overtime, particularly as highlighted in a blog entry by EA Spouse,[3] who described some of the darker aspects of working in the industry. At some companies (the blog entry targeted Electronic Arts specifically), "crunch time" (a period where programmers will often work around the clock to finish a project) has become the expected norm through the whole development cycle.